First Apprentice
by twiggy94
Summary: Beast Boy has been keeping a lot of secrets about his past. The Titans must now deal with Slade who covets Beast Boy, as well as with many other demons from the changeling's past.
1. Chapter 1

~The Fight~

Every hero has a particular villain that he or she hates more than any other. The Doom Patrol has the Brotherhood of Evil, Batman has The Joker, and I have Slade. Slade is the most despicable villain I have ever met, and here he is proving it once again.

"Why is it that, of all the Titans, you are the only one who never attacks me directly? You attack my robots, and the villains I send after you all, but you never directly target me." Slade continued to mock Beast Boy.

"Even the incident with Terra, you were more concerned with protecting her than fighting me." He continued.

"Don't bring Terra into this!" he shouted back, having had enough.

"Look around you Beast Boy, you are hardly in a position to demand I do or not do anything." Slade directed Beast Boy's attention to our position. Sadly, Slade has a point. He sent Cinderblock and then Plasmus after us in rapid succession, and once we were exhausted, used a swarm of his robots to trap all the Titans save for Beast Boy.

"Release them." Beast Boy snarled quietly, sounding much more animalistic than I'd ever heard him in his human form.

"And you could have prevented this, if you'd only listened to my warning, Titans." Slade continued as though Beast Boy had not spoken. Slade had contacted us at the tower some days prior, saying something about wanting his first apprentice back. I don't really get what he's aiming for here, he's already captured me, why is he torturing Beast Boy?

"That's enough Slade!" I shout, I will not stand for him mocking my team.

"And what can you do about it, Robin?" Slade sneers in my direction, and then turns back to Beast Boy.

Again, he had us. We were too exhausted to resist his robots, especially considering he had about five restraining each of us.

"In all honesty, I just want to see how you fight, Beast Boy. It's been a while since I've had a good fight." With no other warning, Slade lunged at Beast Boy.

Beast Boy dodged Slade, turning into a wolf in the process, and countering almost as quickly with a bite aimed at Slade's neck. Slade responded with a kick, which Beast Boy dodged by turning into a pterodactyl and flying upwards, grabbing Slade by the shoulders with his talons in the same movement.

Slade rolled out of the way and Beast Boy shifted into the form of a wolf again, growling. Slade eyed Beast Boy interestedly.

"You can do better than that." He stated plainly. What is with this guy? Didn't he just finish saying that he's never directly fought Beast Boy before? How would he know what BeastBoy can and can't do?

Beast Boy snarled at Slade and charged toward him in the form of a cheetah, lunging constantly from every direction as Slade dodged. Each lunge laded Beast Boy closer and closer to the villain, and the dance got more and more deadly. Before long, Slade was only just barely dodging the attacks.

"Better, Beast Boy. But not good enough." At beast Boy's next lunge, Slade jumped up and grabbed him by the neck, dragging him down to the ground and landing on top. Beast Boy wasted no time in turning into a bear and pushing Slade off of him.

"Maybe you need more convincing. Attack to kill me, Beast Boy, or I'll hurt your friends." Out of no where, Slade's bots brandished knives at us. I saw Raven and Starfire struggle against this, but as Ravens mouth was currently taped shut she couldn't say her chants and Starfire was blindfolded and her arms were tied behind her back so she couldn't use her starbolts.

Cyborg and I were in similarly helpless situations, tied up and beaten down after so much fighting today. The knives were being held up at our necks and Beast Boy wasted no time in attacking once more, this time as a wolf.

As I watched, it seemed as though Beast Boys form was blurring, like he was trying to transform, and trying not to transform, at the same time. It was reminiscent of that time when he was fighting to contain the Beast created by the chemicals he was exposed to during the fight with Adonis.

They kept fighting, Beast Boy visibly slowing down by whatever was interfering with his phases.

"Show your true potential, Logan, or watch your friends die!" Slade shouted. Something in Beast Boy's eyes changed, and suddenly he seemed to lose all humanity, giving in to the animals inside him. Then, my green teammate did something I will never forget, something I never thought possible. He transformed into a creature that doesn't exist, that never has existed, that none of us knew he could turn into: a demon. He was huge, standing at seven feet with the head of a fly, the body of a muscled man with a beetle-like exoskeleton armor, and the claws of a t-rex and feet with the talons of a large bird of prey. He also had fly-like wings protruding from his back and a horned tail. Needless to say, I, and I imagine the rest of the team as well, was somewhat terrified. The only indication that this creature was our Beast Boy was that it was green from head to tow.

"Now there is the changeling I remember." Slade said gleefully. Wait- what? What does he mean 'the changeling HE REMEMBERS?

Beast Boy let loos a fearsome wail that sounded as though hell itself was contacting us from his vocal chords, and moved towards Slade with a speed unparalleled by even Kid Flash. Slade himself seemed both proud and worried, he could barely keep up with Beast Boy in this form. Actually, scratch that, he couldn't keep up. Slade was blocking and dodging only about half of Beast Boy's swipes, the rest he was enduring.

The fight went on for about five minutes, Beast Boy clearly having the upper hand and Slade taking a serious beating.

There was a pause as Slade got one of very few hits in, and Beast Boy backed of, switching out of that form and kneeling, apparently incapable of holding himself up any longer.

"Beast Boy!" We all shouted immediately, worried. All the shock of what we just saw finally setting in.

"Well done, Logan." Slade was out of breath and swaying as though he were about to fall. He was bleeding from many of the places Beast Boy's claws had reached. Why the hell does he keep calling Beast Boy Logan?

"You have not been training, Logan. You used to be able to dominate even the most evil of your demon forms. You were much faster in that form, have you lost control of that forms' mind? Can you no longer control it? Pity, you will have to improve if you're ever going to be acceptable again." Slade continued, still calling Beast boy by that name.

"Let my friends go." Beast Boy demanded quietly, will power alone keeping him conscious.

"You are really in no shape to demand anything of me." Slade answered cruelly. I had had enough. Beast Boy had kept him occupied for enough time fore me to regain some energy. I kicked the bot in-front of me with wicked force, and made quick work of those behind me. I saw Cyborg do the same, then rush towards the girls to help them out of their bindings as I ran at Slade.

"It seems my work here is done, for now." Slade said and ran before I got to him, his robots releasing the rest of the team and retreating with him. A split second decision, one only I could make as the leader of this team: pursue the highly dangerous and intelligent villain who was already considerably weakened, or help my teammates, all of which were still very weak, myself not much better.

The decision was made for me as I saw Beast Boy turn into a wolf, howl, and fall forward. I ran to him, catching him just before he hit the floor.

~Back at the Tower~

"What was that?" Shouted Cyborg in the common room.

"I was not aware friend Beast Boy could transform into such horrible creatures." Starfire added in sadly, worried about our friend.

"None of us did, Star. What was that anyway? All I could think of was that it was some sort of demon." I answered Starfire, then addressed the rest of the team, excluding Beast Boy, who was still in the infirmary.

"A beezlebub, biblically one of the seven princes of Hell." Raven said in an almost monotone. She was quite shaken by the spectacle that we had witnessed only an hour prior.

"And what was with Slade calling Beast Boy 'Logan'?" Cyborg voiced my own mental query.

"And did they not seem more acquainted than they should be?" Starfire added.

"It seems as though Slade has known Beast Boy for a lot longer than we thought. He clearly knew Beast Boy was capable of turning into such creatures." Raven added.

"We're going to have to ask Beast Boy when he wakes up. I think... I think Logan might be his actual name." I added finally. There was a collective gasp. To protect our respective families, the Titan's have all kept their pasts and identities secret.

Some of our pasts have been exposed for us, like Starfire's and Raven's, but only because neither of them could really hide anything anymore after Blackfire and Trigon, respectively, showed up. Cyborg's past was sort of displayed on the news for months. When he became a Titan, some news reporter connected his being a half machine man to the case of the boy that survived the attack of that rampant robot in S.T.A.R. Labs because his father made him a body out of metal to make up for everything that robot tore off.

In reality, the only Titans whose pasts have been kept secret from the other Titans are Beast Boy's and my own. Though the others know I worked for Batman for a long time before going off on my own. Batman is famous, so obviously his side-kick would be known. They didn't know how I got to working for Batman though.

The same is basically known of Beast Boy. He was in the Doom Patrol. However, his story is even more vague. The others know how long I worked for Batman, and they've known since we met. The rest of us only found out Beast Boy used to work for the Doom Patrol when he was contacted by them, and even then we don't know for how long or at what point in his life.

In reality, though Beast Boy is the most carefree and most naive-looking, he has been most effective at obfuscating his past, until now. Beast Boy has never, in his time with the Titans, transformed into something remotely similar to what he turned into today, meaning he and Slade somehow have a history that pre-dates the Titans.

Again, what Slade said to him during their battle comes to mind. Beast Boy had never, until today, actually fought Slade. Wherever Slade has been involved, Beast Boy has occupied himself in fighting the villains Slade sends to annoy us, never actually targeting Slade. How did I not notice this? And how have I worked with Beast Boy, with the Titans, for three years and not known the extent of Beast Boy's powers? Not even when we were fighting Tirgon did Beast Boy use that ferocious power.

I was brought out of my thoughts by Cyborg.

"Guys! BB's waking up."


	2. Chapter 2

~Revelation~

Beast Boy woke up slowly, as the Titan's filed into the room. He had still been in his wolf form, but just then he transformed back into his human one. Cyborg checked over his vital signs and his wounds and tended to them. I watched my teammate through new eyes. This boy I've known for three years is more or less a complete stranger to me, and it's taken me three years to realize it.

"Beast Boy" I call his attention. He looks around at everyone before his eyes rest on me. He doesn't answer, but nods resignedly, it seems he won't give too much trouble answering my questions.

"When did you first meet Slade." I asked directly. Something flashed in Beast Boy' eyes, something predatory. He shook his head and looked at me again, straight in the eye.

"I met Slade at the same time you did." He answered levelly. I guess he is going to make this difficult. My eyes narrow, as do his. He is still staring directly at me, something in his eyes demanding that I look away. It seems like a dominance game. I hold my ground.

"Why did he call you Logan?" I continued question, we would get back to that question soon enough.

"Whatever is past is past. I don't see why I have to explain myself as though I did something wrong." He responded calmly.

"You did things we weren't aware you were capable of. Slade seems to be after you for some reason, he seems to know you, and know you well. If you have information that could help us bring him down, you need to tell us." I try to appeal to his logic. A much as I hate to admit it, he does have a point. He had just saved us, we should be thanking him, not interrogating him.

"Look, Beast Boy, I'm sorry. This isn't what you should have to face upon just waking up after that battle. Thank you, whatever you did out there, it's probably the reason we're back home, safe, right now." I say, deflating.

He smiles that lopsided grin of his, one fang hanging out.

"No problem" he says, and giggles a bit. It's hard to believe that this kid is capable of becoming that monster. Sure, he's 17 now, but he still acts like he did when we first became a team, except for some slight differences. He is more mature now, both physically and mentally. He is also more reserved, and thinks more strategically. He now thinks before he speaks, and can be quite intelligent and witty when the occasion calls for it. However, he still tells bad jokes and will serve as comic relief when needed. Regardless, he is still seen as the baby of the team, since Raven is 19, Starfire and I are both 20 and Cyborg is 22.

"But please Beast Boy, if you have any information on Slade, tell us. You won't be penalized or punished for whatever you've hidden, but I- we- need to know." His eyes hardened a bit.

"He used to go by a different name, Deathstroke. I didn't know the same person was Slade until he first came after us."

"Why did you never mention this before?" I questioned, trying to not be angry at Beast Boy for keeping this to himself.

For the first time since I've known him, Beast Boy gave me a look that could only be described as sinister. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and not for the first time today, I felt the predators in Beast Boy's DNA leering at me and thinking '_prey_'.

"Revealing our pasts was never a prerequisite for becoming a Titan." the green changeling answered in a malevolent tone, and suddenly he seemed dangerous. I tensed and crouched slightly.

"What do you mean '_your past_'. Did you _work_ for this 'Deathstroke'" I nearly growled at him.

"You worked for him, Robin. I'll reveal my past if you reveal yours." He stated his conditions calmly.

I was stumped. I had never seen this side of Beast Boy before. However, he did have a point. I did work for Slade while I was actively with the Titans, and revealing our pasts has also never been a prerequisite. If it was, then Raven wouldn't have qualified as a Titan for being a demoness that aided in the near-destruction of the planet, regardless of how she tried to prevent it. I wouldn't qualify because, despite my intentions, I did steal for Slade, who is this city's most fearsome villain. Starfire wouldn't even qualify, as she was technically a prisoner of war when we met her. So far, if background checks were to be done on us now, only Cyborg seems to qualify as a hero.

"Fine. I was born 19 years ago to two famous circus performers. When I grew up some, I joined their act and we became known as The Flying Greysons. When I was 9, a trapeze incident left me orphaned and Batman took me in soon after. I was with Batman until approximately 6 months before we formed the Teen Titans. My name is Richard, or Dick, Greyson." I gave him a very cut and dry version of my history. With that information, he could look up every detail of my life online if he were so inclined. I had given him, and the rest of the team, my name and the groups I was previously affiliated with.

"I trust all of you with this information, I know you won't use it against me. Just as I, Beast Boy, and the rest of this team would not use your history against you."

He considered his options for a moment, and looked at each member of the team individually, before he began.

"When I was younger, I spent a lot of time alone. I didn't have money, nor anyone to take care of me, and lived for a while in my wolf form. I didn't have much contact with people. Actually, I would go months at a time in my wolf form, not talking to anyone. Deathstroke found me. He said that if I helped him, he would help me. He gave me food, clothes, and he trained me. I wasn't good at turning into larger creatures when I was younger, he helped me with that. In turn, I stole for him, tracked people down for him." he paused and looked at us. The expression on all our faces was identical: filled with shock and trepidation.

"He got greedy." Beast Boy's expression became very dark all of a sudden. "For a while I thought he'd let up, his training was brutal." Beast Boy laughed mirthlesssly and looked at me, and I shuddered with the memory of the brief time I trained under Slade as his apprentice.

"One day, he came to me with piles and piles of books. The first few were books of all the creatures currently in existence, then came the books of all those that were extinct. Soon came the aliens, then the mythical beasts. Finally, the demons. He would test me on all of them, their strengths and their weaknesses." Beast Boy looked down at his hands. "He would force me to transform into them, but they didn't want me to. They rejected my transformation, but he made me do it anyway." He growled a little bit.

"What do you mean when you say they rejected you?" Raven asked cautiously, clearly intrigued.

"Animals of this world have basic mind-sets. They have primal instincts. Fight or flight, kill to eat, don't waste energy on things that don't directly affect you. Even the extinct ones. They don't reason, they are intelligent in that they know how to survive, but they can't fight me mentally, I just add their instincts to my human intelligence when I transform into them. The same can be said of most alien creatures, and some mythical monsters." He paused again.

"But?" Cyborg asked, also fascinated.

"But some of the aliens, and some of the mythical creatures, they have reasoning consciousnesses. They have their own minds, they grant me the ability to turn into them only if my mind can dominate their instincts and their purposes. Some of them, the demons, have minds set on destruction and murder. They fight my presence because I don't want what they want. If my consciousness can beat theirs, I can maintain the form, but if they win, I must turn back into myself or else do their bidding." he looked around again.

"Do their bidding?" Starfire queried worriedly.

"What I turned into earlier, the beelzebub, is the prince of gluttony. He wants to eat, and keep eating indefinitely. He is carnivorous. If his consciousness were stronger than mine and I were to stay in his form, I would be running around the street eating everyone in the city, I would eat you guys, given half the chance." We all gasped, none of us knew that Beast Boy's powers came at such a cost.

"Deathstroke realized this. He saw that once I turned into a creature with its own consciousness, it would constantly fight for freedom. He forced me to become every demon he could find from every mythology and theology imaginable, hoping I would lose myself to one of them and become some mindless killing machine he could control. At one point, I was barely capable of controlling them, and they almost took over. He stopped this type of training when I lost control one day and almost killed him because he realized that if I ever did completely lose myself, he wouldn't be able to control the monster I became, and thus I would be useless to him."

"Beast Boy..." I had no idea he'd had to endure so much. "How old were you when this all happened?"

"I was 10 when I first met him, and I left him when I was 13." Beast Boy said, tiredly.

Another collective gasp.

"You were only a kid!" Cyborg fumed, "How sick is this guy?"

"How did you leave him?" Raven wondered out loud. Beast Boy acted as though he hadn't heard the question, and continued his explanation accordingly.

"Deathstroke realized that I could still borrow the strength of these monsters if I could completely subvert their consciousnesses and just use their bodies, as I do with the earth animals I turn into. I could even bond with them, and so their bodies wouldn't be so hard for me to maintain." He stopped for a second, then continued, "We worked day and night. He would force me to sleep and eat in one demon form for days at a time. Eventually, I could control them fairly well, but my human mind began to change. Bonding with one form, for me, entails our mentalities kinda co-existing. I would adopt some of their behaviors, only slightly, making me more feral when in human form, more like an animal...er, demon." He confessed.

"How many of these demons did you bond with?" I asked, I don't know what to think of what he's saying.

"Not only demons, a lot of forms have strong mentalities. I bonded with the beelzebub, the cerberus, the chimera, the hellhound, the phoenix, the hydra, the fafnir, and the minotaur." Beast Boy listed them.

"The fafnir? The hydra? Are you crazy? In most mythologies those monsters are murder machines. They kill whatever they set eyes on." Raven shouted, horrified.

"I know." Beast Boy looked miserable.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" I asked him, this was something I needed to know. Beast Boy looked up at me, pleadingly.

"Those two were almost impossible, I maimed a lot of people before I managed to control them, but I never killed anyone!" He looked directly in my eyes. He maimed people. Before the age of thirteen. How is it possible that all these years we thought him to be the innocent goofball of the group?

"Please friend Beast Boy, what happened then?" Starfire asked, only worry for her friend apparent in her eyes. She knows Beast Boy must have suffered.

"I spent a week in each form, and I would rotate. This was when I was 11 and 12. Deathstroke had me stealing and working for him when I was 10 and again when I was 13, but the in-between years, he was too fascinated with my power to worry about evil doing, he just wanted to see to what point my powers could strengthen, planning to use them when I grew up, and my forms could be fully mature. In between weeks in those forms, he would train my human form. All types of martial arts forms, hours spent just training, only eating just barely enough to keep me alive when I was in my human form." He looked at me again. Now it was my turn to be curious.

"I didn't know you knew martial arts in your human form." I stated, pleasantly surprised.

He grinned at me. "You never asked." He answered.

"What happened then?" Raven was much more interested in what Beast Boy was saying previously than in our talk of martial arts. Beast Boy, who had been thankful for the change in topic, seemed less than pleased that Raven was changing the topic back.

He glowered and continued. "He also trained my mind. From 4 in the morning until noon was when I would train in martial arts in my human form, when I wasn't taming and training in those monster forms. Then, from noon until 7 I would study computer programming, strategy and complex algorithms; to break in to a lot of places undetected, I'd need to know how to disarm security alarms and traps and stuff. Then from 7 until 11, it would be speed training, how quickly I could switch into different forms. He'd have flash cards with every type of animal and monster ever thought of, and he'd make me transform into them as quickly as possible. That was the worst, because a lot of the times, I would have to transform really quickly into monsters I hadn't bonded with yet."

I felt guilty at my line of thinking as he was telling me this, but it seems as though this was a really good training schedule for Beast Boy. I imagined the possibilities...

"Damn, BB, I had no idea..." Cyborg said, blowing out air and rubbing the back of his neck.

"No worries bro," Beast Boy grinned, though there was some tension in his eyes. He clearly wasn't fond of revisiting these memories.

"Hey Beast Boy," I called his attention, he looked at me wearily. I grinned in a playful manner, "If you're not too tired, how about a quick sparring match?" I challenged, still smiling.

"You're on." He grinned wolfishly back at me.

**Author's Note: Initially, I didn't want to put so much of Beast Boy's past in one chapter. Then I realized that all I actually did here was reveal the extent of Beast Boy's powers and the cost at which they come. Don't worry, there is a lot that hasn't been revealed, and the Titan's are in for a lot of surprises.**


	3. Chapter 3

~On the roof of the Tower~

"Okay Beast Boy, you said you knew martial arts" I said, and he smirked at me, "In this fight, you are only to use your human form, understand?" I answered with a smirk.

"Bring it on!" he shouted.

"I want a good, clean fight. Now... Begin!" Cyborg called the match.

Beast Boy had his knees bent, one foot slightly behind the other, and his arms raised to block his face and upper body, a classic fighting stance. He stayed still, waiting for me to attack first.

I wasted no time, charging at him, then jumping up and flipping, intending to knock him down with my heel. Beast Boy crouched low and moved left, then stopped his motion with his right foot, and used the momentum to kick himself back to his original position, only now his elbow was held level with where my ankle would be in a moment. We collided, and I felt the force of his elbow contacting my ankle. Damn, that was going to bruise in the morning.

I used his counter attack to launch my own. Using his elbow, I pushed off, flipped and twisted to kick him in the face with my other foot. This time, he ducked and grabbed my leg with both arms, twisted, and tossed me back. I flipped in the air and landed in a crouched position. That whole encounter had taken less than 4 seconds.

He straightened himself and looked at me directly, waiting. I charged again, feinting left then twisting right to get right next to him and kick him with my heel in the side, then follow up with several punches. He half dodged, half blocked the kick, and dropped to the ground to avoid the punches, kicking up at my inner thigh and causing me to lose my footing. Beast Boy hooked his other leg around my hip and, with a strength I did not know he could achieve in his human form, he used the leverage created by both legs to take me down and, in the same motion stood up.

As soon as he was on his feet, he turned and dove at me, as I was still on the floor, with his elbow and knee ready to pin me. I rolled and kicked behind me, finally landing a kick in his side, not only successfully dodging and countering his attack, but also pushing him back enough that I had time to get up. That encounter took only 6 seconds.

So far, we'd only been fighting for half a minute and Beast Boy had gotten 2 hits in, and I 1. Beast Boy stared at me again, unwaveringly. Batman always told me I was too quick to attack and that the advantage is always on the side of the defender. Finally learning that lesson, I got into my own fighting stance, and decided I would wait this time.

Beast Boy smirked, and stood up out of his crouch. "I give," He said. I stooped a bit "Huh?" I said eloquently, hearing the others echo me.

"I'm still kinda tired from fighting Slade, and you decided you were going to wait for me to attack rather than initiate yourself. I know better than to try to take you head on, so the fight is over." He stated plainly. Damn...

"Friend Beast Boy!" Starfire exclaimed, running at him. He blanched as she got him in a bone-crushing hug, "That was most excellent!"

"Beast Boy" Raven called to him, he stilled, she never addresses him directly.

"Yes?" he asked with trepidation.

"I was wondering if you could... If it wouldn't be too much trouble for you... Only if you wanted to that is..." She stuttered. Raven. Never. Stutters.

"What is it Rae?" he asked more confidently, though shrinking back again at her glare for being called 'Rae'.

Raven became nervous again. "I just wanted to see one of your... More wild forms. Like... Maybe... The fafnir?" He became wary, but then brightened up somewhat.

"Okay," he said quietly, then he transformed into a huge dragon-like beast. It extended almost the length of the cross of the T-shaped Tower and its tail still hung off the edge. It's head alone was huge, all of us could probably fit comfortably in it's mouth, which was lined with row upon row of super-sized great-white shark type teeth and two tusks protruding from the lower jaw like elephant tusks pointing in the direction of the jaw. Its thick legs each ending in sharp clawed feet which were big enough to clutch and impale Cyborg and myself together. There were spikes running all the way from his shoulders to the tip of his tail, and giant, bat-like wings protruding from it's back.

Altogether, he was bigger and more fearsome than Melchior. "Friend Beast Boy?" Starfire asked cautiously. The beast looked at her, recognition in his eyes. Our Beast Boy was still there. He then turned his gaze to Raven.

Raven made a small noise in the back of her throat, her eyes roaming the beast's body with unbridled fascination. "You've tamed this form?" she questioned innocently.

Apparently, the creature did not like that statement. It less loose the most vicious roar I have ever heard up to the sky. I would have moved, to attack, to defend, to run from this thing that was clearly no longer our friend except I was too paralyzed with fear. It's wings unfurled and it stepped forward, nearly pushing us off the Tower. It then brought it's head down glaring at Raven and it's head snapped forward in her direction. It was going to kill her, and there was nothing I, or any of us, could do.

It stopped, just as it's teeth almost surrounded Raven, it stopped. It's form faltered for a moment, as though Beast Boy were struggling to go back to his usual form. After 8 terrifying seconds, Beast Boy turned back into himself again.

He was drenched, sweating from head to tow. "I tamed it, past tense. I haven't turned into that in almost four years." he panted, swaying. He turned into a wolf and howled, randomly. The wolf began to shake violently, and howled again, before it collapsed, barely conscious.

~Back in the infirmary~

It only took about half an hour for Beast Boy to recuperate, all of us worried sick and Raven feeling spectacularly guilty. He woke up, still in his wolf form, with all of us staring at him concernedly.

"I am so sorry Beast Boy. You didn't have to do that, I shouldn't have asked. I am so sorry." Raven sounded miserable.

"Don't worry Rae, I was thinking of reacquainting myself with those forms anyway. Ever since Slade contacted us through the T.V. with all that talk about his first apprentice. I would be so much more useful to the team if I could dominate them again." He forgave her quickly. It was a mark of how guilty she felt that she didn't call him out on calling her 'Rae'. Privately, I am so happy that he came to this conclusion himself; I didn't want to be the jerk that asked him to train as he used to during those bad times in his life, but I was thinking the same.

"One question, friend Beast Boy, this is the second time you have collapsed for using one of these... erm... forms. You have also turned into a wolf after both times. Why is this?" Starfire asked, and he turned to her pleasantly.

"I can bond with normal animal forms too. I said before, there minds are no where near as complicated as the demons', and they put up virtually no fight against me using their bodies, but they do still have minds. I spent two years of my life as a wolf. Never changing to anything else. The wolf and I are very close, and wolves are more basic than people. They process pain and exhaustion differently. It's the form I'm most comfortable in aside from my human one, and the demons are the ones I'm least comfortable in. So whenever one of the more difficult forms tires me out, I favor the wolf to help me recuperate." He explained cheerfully, and once again I was stumped.

"When did you spend two years as a wolf?" Cyborg beat me to my question.

"The year before I met Deathstroke, and the year after I left him." Beast Boy nearly monotoned.

"Why?" I asked, confused.

"I was poor, alone, and just a kid. There was no way I would have survived as a human, I wouldn't have been able to fend for myself and I didn't want to steal. A wolf can provide for itself, it can hunt and protect itself." He did monotone this time.

"You don't eat meat, though." Cyborg half asked, half stated.

"I stopped eating meat when we formed the Titans." he answered.

"Why?" Cyborg asked.

"All the demons, all the predators Deathstroke favored, were carnivores. By the time I met you guys, I almost couldn't turn into anything that wasn't a carnivore, the other forms actively protested me turning into anything that lacked a predatory mind-set. I was too feral, eating meat would have only made me more feral." Beast Boy seemed to seriously dislike this line of questioning.

"I thought you hated meat?" Cyborg asked the statement.

"I don't, I love meat. How couldn't I? I've spent almost my whole life as a predator of some sort." he answered.

"Why a wolf?" I asked, seeing that talking about meat was not what Beast Boy wanted to do.

"Wolves are social creatures, I couldn't stand being completely alone. I befriended a pack, I became the alpha." he answered distantly.

"You did?" he nodded.

"Please, friend Beast Boy, when you say you provided for yourself, do you mean to say you hunted down live animals?" Starfire's question was innocuous, but Beast Boy cracked. He turned to her with his back arched, imitating a wolf while maintaining his human form, and snarled loudly. He looked absolutely savage.

I stood in front of Starfire and glared at Beast Boy, who growled but backed off. He shook his head, clearing it. "Sorry, Star." he looked up at her dejectedly.

"It is alright, friend Beast Boy. My question was not called for." she replied readily.

Beast Boy seemed to be about to say something else, but instead, he yawned. I looked at the clock, it was 2 in the morning. Today had been a really long day.

"I think it's about time we all went to bed. I'm calling off training tomorrow morning. I think we all need time to recuperate today. Training has been moved to tomorrow afternoon." I said, and with that, the Titans went off to their respective rooms to get a well deserved rest.

Author's Note: Alright, so Beast Boy is going to have an interesting time training, and the Titan's are going to witness first hand what Beast Boy's new training regime will entail. They might have villains they need to take care of, but until Beast Boy remasters his demons, literally, he's much more dangerous than any villain they'll have to encounter for a while. I wonder how they'll handle that...


	4. Chapter 4

~In the training room~

Robin's POV

"Guys," Beast Boy called us. He wanted to start training his mind to bond with the demon forms again, and he asked all of us to help.

"I'm going to try the fafnir first. I already got a feel of his mind the other day when I transformed into him for you guys. He was the second most difficult to tame in the past, so I'm going to need all of your help." We all nodded for him to go on.

"Raven, Robin, if I can't control him, you two will be his first targets, and he will strike to kill." Beast Boy cut straight to the point. Though I didn't show it, that fact terrified me.

"Why?" Raven asked with a slight tremor in her voice, the thought scared her too.

"The fafnir is a very proud, very dominant and territorial solitary being. You insulted him the other day by insinuating that I could tame him. You attacked his pride, and he won't forget that until I've mastered him again." Beast Boy looked at Raven straight in the eye, showing dominance where before there was compliance. Still though, there was something apologetic in his gaze.

"You, Robin, are the leader of this team," Beast Boy continued, striking me with his gaze. "The fafnir recognized this in your body language the other day. In his mind, no one can lead a being such as he, and he needs no minions. You, by assuming that you could be his leader was not only an attack on his pride, but an invasion of his territory. I don't know which of you two insulted him more, so both of you will need to be out of sight."

"We will not leave Starfire and Cyborg alone." I declared immediately. The fafnir form was dangerous, I would not leave any of my team alone with it until it was in complete submission to Beast Boy.

"I did not tell you to." Beast Boy answered calmly. "I said stay out of sight. The fafnir is very one track minded. As long as Raven and you don't move, the fafnir won't detect you."

"And if we move?" I asked, we needed to know all the risks before doing this. I wanted Beast Boy to be able to use his powers to their full extent, but not if it cost me another teammate.

"I'll kill you." he stated plainly. "I can control the fafnir for short periods of time as long as it is calm. If you two move it will detect you immediately no matter where you're hiding."

"Why will it only detect us if we move?" Raven asked, it was clear that she was the most interested of all of us in the demons Beast Boy could turn into, considering she herself was born to a demon and thus was partly a demoness herself.

"The fafnir's greatest sense is it's sense of touch. It's other senses are still much better than a human's but it usually relies on just that one to detect a threat, unless given a reason to be put on high alert with all of its senses." he paused, "It's like when someone's hand is a centimeter from your arm, and you feel the air moving and the warmth emanating from them. You feel that the hand is there, even though it's not touching you. The fafnir feels that, but the fafnir can feel it from approximately 20 meters away. If you don't move, it will only feel the heat and my mind is still strong enough to convince the fafnir that its not a threat. If you move, you make yourself a threat." Beast Boy clarified.

"Ok, so what do we do?" Cyborg asked.

"You and Starfire will stand in front of me. In clear view. The fafnir didn't feel threatened by your presences last time because neither of you insulted or threatened him. Don't look up at me when I transform, because it will stroke the fafnir's ego that he can lord over you two and that will make him harder to control. Also, don't look down, because that would be submissive and the fafnir will want to dominate. Don't move too much, because it will perceive you as a threat. Starfire, don't fly, because that will be seen as a show of dominance, and he'll be insulted. You guys need to make yourselves non-imposing. Lean on the wall or something, keep you eyes averted sideways, as that is just ignoring my presence, and will make the fafnir more inclined to ignore yours. Also, whatever you do, do not look into its eyes, because that will be seen as a challenge. If either of you mess up and I attack you, it is imperative that you both continue ignoring me, go back to leaning on the wall, not imposingly." Starfire gasped.

"Is that not dangerous? Friend Beast Boy?" he smirked bitterly.

"It's fatal. But if you try to counter my attack that will be a direct threat and I will kill you. Remember, I was able to stop it before it attacked Raven last time. You have to trust that I can do it again." he became nervous and slouched a bit, "can you guys do that?" he asked very quietly.

"Of course friend Beast Boy." Starfire said without hesitation, followed by a chorus of all of us declaring our trust in our green friend.

"Thanks guys" he smiled, then continued "that's also not to say you won't be protected. The fafnir is very one-track minded, as I said before. If he attacks one of you two, it'll give Raven and Robin a brief window in which they can move to incapacitate me while my attention is diverted. You and Cyborg must not move to help them until after they catch me by surprise and my attention is once again diverted." He directed Starfire and Cyborg.

"Also, you two," Beast Boy turned to Raven and me, "don't wait to see if I can stop the fafnir in time myself because if I can't, someone will die. The second you see me about to attack, jump in. Raven," he directed himself to her, "the fafnir is a mythical being, and thus has its own type of magic. Your black magic will work against him, but it will be much more difficult for you to maintain a hold on it. Remember that." He waited for her acknowledgement, she nodded at him.

"Finally, the fafnir has almost impenetrable, thick muscle covering every part of it's body and it's skin is harder than steel. The skeleton is as strong as diamond and the bone is thickest in its skull. Do not attack there, it's useless. The fafnir has two weak spots. The first is the wings, they are strong, very strong, but they are where the muscle is thinnest. Attack around the middle of the wing, it'll slow me down considerably." he looked at all of us for confirmation that we understood. We all nodded.

"The second spot is the front of the throat at the base of the neck where it meets the shoulders. That is where the muscle is almost non-existent, and all you have to get through is the steel-like skin. An attack that goes about a meter in from that point, downwards at about a 45 degree angle would hit my heart. It is the only way to kill the fafnir directly. Striking that way, but only half a meter in, would be enough to subdue the beast because it knows instinctively that trying to fight at that point might accidentally lead to the attack going further in and killing it. Once it's subdued I'll be able to turn back. Robin, while the others distract me by attacking the wings, you stab your bo-staff into my throat about half a meter in. The second you see me still, the fafnir has been subdued. Pull the staff out and get away quickly, I'll transform into either my human or wolf form. The injury will cary into that form, I'll bleed profusely, but I'll live and be good to go in about a day as long as I can rest to recuperate the lost blood cells."

We all stared at him blankly. He just asked me to go centimeters from killing him. He told me to do this as though it were something that happened frequently. How many times had Slade almost killed him to get him back into his human form? He new how this had to be done almost mechanically.

"What if I mess up and kill you?" I asked, how could I be calm enough to measure the attack so precisely while attacking one of my best friends while he was trying to kill the rest of my best friends?

"I trust you." he looked directly into my eyes and grinned. Damn, now I remember why he was considered the baby of the group. That plan is all based on the naive idea that we could control ourselves while fighting for our very lives. So many things could go wrong. Shit.

Author's note: Please review and tell me what you think of the story so far, all opinions are welcome.


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